Agronutris partnered with ENGIE Solutions for the financing, construction and operation of all energy facilities for its first insect factory located in Rethel, in the Ardennes, France.

Created in 2011, Agronutris is a French biotechnology company that specializes in the production and processing of insects into protein. The company plans to open nine insect production sites by 2029. The construction of the first plant, with an area of 16,000 m², has just started, with commissioning scheduled for 2022.

The partnership with ENGIE Solutions is part of Agronutris’ energy efficiency commitments. ENGIE Solutions provided €14 million for the construction of energy supply facilities. ENGIE Solutions will be responsible for all on-site production facilities, such as heating, cooling, compressed air and steam, and will manage energy facilities for 20 years. The heat supply will be renewable and locally produced by a biomass boiler with a power of 2MW that will provide most of the energy required for the operation of the site. This biomass installation will make it possible to closely avoid the emission of 2,690 tons of CO₂ of fossil origin per year. ENGIE Solutions will also provide nearly 20 GWh/year of useful heat as steam and 7 GWh of cold as chilled water. 

“We are delighted to initiate this partnership, which is not only innovative from a technological and industrial point of view but also a financial point of view. By backing up its plant project to a large group such as ENGIE, Agronutris can accelerate its industrial development phase,” said Mehdi Berrada, co-founder and president of Agronutris.

“We are very happy to support Agronutris for this first production site with innovative and efficient solutions as part of the energy transition towards a zero-carbon industry. We have positioned ourselves as a partner alongside Agronutris by financing energy equipment, our core business of which we provide construction, operation and maintenance,” said Damien Terouanne, deputy managing director of ENGIE Solutions.